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Biggles Sees Too Much/plot
Chapter 1: A Smell of Fish Biggles looks on in the Air Commodore after coming back from a holiday at the Cornish village of Polcarron with something unusual to report. Lounging on the quayside, he had see a cabin cruiser take on four clean shaven clients for a shark-fishing expedition. The boat returned a few hours later to be met by a black Daimler. But, now, one of the four fishermen had a beard! He also walked with a familiar limp. Biggles looks up Scotland Yard records and discovers that it is a dangerous fugitive Limpy Logan. The Air Commodore is concerned about this new line in smuggling--of people. He sends Biggles back to Polcarron. Chapter 2: A Waiting Game Biggles and Bertie, ostensibly on holiday, begin a long wait at Polcarron. Meanwhile Ginger and Algy stand by in an Auster at a flying club inland. After some days, the black Daimler turns up. To Biggles' surprise the driver stops and chats with them and then goes into the pub for a drink. Biggles spots a cabin cruiser making for the harbour at speed. The driver comes out of the pub but then drives off without waiting for the boat. Perplexed, Biggles sends Bertie to follow it. Chapter 3: Luck Works Two Ways The boat sheers off and heads west. Has it been warned to avoid Polcarron? Biggles can't don't anything about it. Inside the pub, he learns from the barman, Tom Draper, that the Daimler driver didn't just come in for a drink--he had looked up their names in the guestbook. Did he recognise their names and so divert the boat? Bertie comes back--his quarry had eluded him. But Ginger is soon on the radio. He had intercepted a transmission from the Daimler driver, now known as Pug Bates. He had warned the boat to avoid Polcarron because two Scotland Yard men were waiting there. Entering the pub, Biggles finds a parcel addressed to him. They are curious and are about to open it when Biggles hears ticking. He tosses it across the road where the parcel explodes! Chapter 4: Biggles Makes Some Enquiries Biggles and Bertie drive to the flying club and meet Algy and Ginger. He calls Scotland Yard about the Daimler licence plate. It belongs to one Julius Brunner of Penlock Grange, a foreign financier with a chain of hotels on the continent and in Britain. This name rings a bell with Bertie. The owner of the Fishermen's Arms, the pub where they stayed in Polcarron, was one Stephen Brunner, possibly a relative. The four decide to reconnoitre the nearby Penlock Grange. Biggles stops to ask directions at the village shop-cum post office in Penlock and bumps into ... Pug Bates! They drive past Penlock Grange and then turn back. Ginger offers to get off and scout around and meet up later in the village. Biggles tells Bertie to drive Algy back to the flying club while he waits at a cafe for Ginger. Chapter 5: Complications Bertie rejoins Biggles but Ginger has still not returned. Biggles takes a room at the local B and B and sends Bertie to fetch his kit. At the Fishermen's Arms, Bertie finds that Tom Draper, the barman, has quit. Driving off, he gets a shock when a voice speaks up from the backseat. It's Tom and he tells Bertie he did not quit--he had been fired because he had told the manager, Mr Stephen Brunner, that he thought something queer was going on at the hotel. Lots of people "of all colours" came and went, staying only a night. They never had luggage when they arrived but always had a suitcase when leaving. Brunner had told him to mind his own business and then sacked him. Tom tells Bertie he thought it must be a smuggling racket and asked if he should report it to the police. Bertie does not reveal his police identity but dvises Tom to keep his thoughts to himself for the moment. Returning to Fernside Cottage, Bertie finds that Biggles had gone out for a walk and had not returned. Neither had Ginger. He returns to Polcarron to spend the night. Chapter 6: Shocks Next morning the local police sergeant arrives at the Fishermen's Arms. Tom Draper has been found dead, apparently having fallen down a cliff! He questions Bertie for a while and leaves, more or less concluding that it was an accident. Bertie, is, of course, qite convinced it was murder. He drives to Penlock but finds, to his consternation, that Biggles had not come back to his lodgings the whole night. Chapter 7: What Happened to Ginger The plot rewinds to Ginger's point of view after he dropped off to scout around the grange. Walking along the road, he meets a man in hunting gear who turns out to be Julius Brunner. It is about to rain so Julius suggests that they adjourn to his house for tea. However, once inside, Pug Bates the chauffeur recognises him as one of the people with Biggles at the village shop that morning. Ginger falls unconscious after drinking tea which has been doped. Chapter 8: Problems Now to Biggles, after Bertie had left to fetch his kit. Biggles wants a quiet place to think and so goes out for a walk. Near the grange, he spots a piece of paper on the ground. It's a piece of a matchbook cover from a restaurant they often used in London. Further pieces lead up the driveway to the grange. It must be Ginger, indicating the direction he had gone! He advances stealthily towards the house but then has to hide when Stephen Brunner arrives, asking to speak to Julius. Chapter 9: A Long Wait From hiding, Biggles overhears the two brothers discussing their problems. Stephen suspects his two lodgers at the Fishermen's Arms are police spies. Julius tells him he has caught another one (Ginger) whom he has drugged and is in the house. He plans to release him later as he doesn't want to attract police attention to the place. Meanwhile they have two "clients" in the house for overseas transportation and they plan to move them to the boat at Portwin Cove ready for the next day's fishing. The Daimler leaves with the "clients" and returns, then, early in the morning, Biggles sees Ginger coming out of the front door. Chapter 10: Action is Planned On the way back to the village, Biggles and Ginger meet Bertie and Algy. Bertie tells Biggles about the death of Tom Draper. In addition, he and Algy had spotted the Daimler on the way and had followed it to Portwin Cove where the passengers boarded a cabin cruiser. Algy thinks he can identify it from the air. Biggles plans action. Algy and Ginger will return to the aircraft, take off and attempt to follow the boat to its destination. Meanwhile, Biggles and Bertie will return to Polcarron. Back at the Fishermen's Arms, Stephen Brunner tells them their rooms had been let and they have to leave. Biggles refuses, and demands lunch. Chapter 11: Algy Reports After a lunch in which Stephen Brunner had tried to sneak castor oil into their soup, Biggles and Bertie are summoned by radio to Morven to meet the Auster coming back. Algy and Ginger had followed the boat all the way to an islet in the Channel Islands where it dropped off two passengers before turning back for England. Biggles sends the Auster up again to determine the boat's destination in Cornwall. He and Bertie would wait at Polcarron. Chapter 12: Back to Polcarron Conveniently, the cabin cruiser is heading back for Polcarron, so Biggles sends Algy and Ginger to London to report to Raymond while he and Bertie intercept the boat. The arrive to see the boat pulling in, with the Daimler waiting for it. Sam Pretty is at the quayside so Bertie takes a casual walk with him to take a look at the boat. Sam makes an interesting observation: certainly the boat appears to have brought in a shark, but it is at least a week old and he had seen the same fish before on at least one or two previous occasions. Chapter 13: Biggles Shows His Hand Back at Morven, Biggles and Bertie meet the Air Commodore who has flown down from London and has brought the Chief Constable of the County. To them the case is complex: they needed to know who exactly the men on the islet were, which islet it is and whether it belonged to England or France. Biggles proposes that they all go to Polcarron. If the boat has left, the Auster can track it while the Chief Constable arranges for a Coast Guard cutter which can do the follow it. At Polcarron, Biggles meets Sam again. Among other things, he has seen the boat leave and gave Biggles its course. Stephen Brunner and Pug Bates were on board. Also, two passengers had gone on board after speeding into town in a red sports car. The suitcases they were carrying did not look like fishing tackle. Meanwhile Raymond needs to return to London urgently. There's news of another big bank robbery. The robbers had escaped in a stolen red sports Jaguar. Red? Biggles thinks it can't be a coincidence. Inside the Fisherman's Arms to pick up some sandwiches for a meal, Biggles meets Julius Brunner. There is some verbal sparring then Biggles comes to the point. He knows about his "fishing activities" and "they are about to end". Brunner draws a pistol but Biggles tells him things do not always work that way in real life. He had been watching too much television. Think about your position, Biggles advises him and then leaves. Chapter 14: The Sea Takes Control Biggles, Bertie and Ginger board the Sea Scout, a coast guard cutter which has been laid on by the Chief Constable. The skipper, Frank Cole identifies Brunner's cabin cruiser as the Shearwater. He had always thought its behaviour was not normal but could never find anything wrong. He is peeved to learn that they had been re-using previously caught fish to fool the inspections. Guided by Algy, the Sea Scout tracks the Shearwater to an islet among the Channel Islands. The sea is rough but the Shearwater rashly attempts to make a landing. It gets through the rocks but just after discharging two passengers on a rock shelf, a freak wave lifts the boat, smashes its bottom and throws it up, stranding it on the rocks. In the meantime, a boat from France approaches the islet but turns back when it spots the Sea Scout. The people on the islet start shooting at the Sea Scout so Cole takes his craft further offshore. Chatper 15: Cole Makes a Suggestion The people on the islet can't go anywhere so Cole suggests they put into St. Helier in Jersey. It is only half an hour away and convenient for getting back when the sea state improves. There is also an airport there and Biggles can summon Algy. The Auster has two pistols in its locker, which they might need to confront the fugitives on the islet. Algy arrives in St. Helier, after some delay because Raymond had asked to be flown back to London. They decide to have a rest and return to the islet in the morning. Chapter 16: Gruesome Discoveries The next morning, the Sea Scout takes Biggles, Bertie and Ginger to the islet. The Shearwater is high and dry and nearby they find the bodies of Bates, drowned, and Stephen Brunner, shot. Bank notes are all over the ground--they must have been the proceeds of the bank robbery in one of the suitcases, smashed open by the waves. They hear a cry for help and find an injured French fisherman from St. Malo, Paul Voudray. He admits to poaching for lobsters in the waters and had landed on the islet. He saw unknown men shooting at one another and tried to run away but got shot. Two men had tried to sail out on his boat but it capsized and he thinks they drowned. The Sea Scout signals that a French fishing boat is approaching and that gives Biggles an idea how to help the fisherman. Chapter 17: How It All Ended Two men are waiting for the French fishing boat on a beach but they run away when they see Biggles and Bertie approaching. Introducing himself as a British police officer, Biggles speaks to the captain of the fishing boat. He has nothing against the French boat, but he knows what they are doing and it will have to stop. Already murder had been committed. Meanwhile an innocent Frenchman has been injured and Biggles asks the captain to take him back to St. Malo. The captain recognises Paul Voudray as one of his neighbours and readily agrees. He also promises never to come back to the islet again. Thanking Biggles for letting him off, he departs with his ship. Biggles now turns to confronting the two men, remnants of the group of fugitives left by the smuggling racket. They refuse to give up so Biggles decides to leave the islet, assured that the men can't get off. The Sea Scout takes Biggles and co. back to St. Helier where they join Algy and fly back to London. Back at Scotland Yard, Raymond tells them that he had sent Gaskin to raid Penlock Grange and he had found Julius Brunner dead, having shot himself. As for what happened on the islet, Biggles surmised that when the suitcases were smashed open by the waves and the people there saw the contents, there must have been a violent struggle which ended in multiple murders. A marine commando team was sent to mope up but the last two fugitives had gone. It later transpired that they had been taken off by the French authorities (the islet being a disputed piece of territory) and the men were convicted for the attempted murder of Paul Voudray. On the British side, with the deaths of Brunner brothers, the main conspirators, the investigation into the murder of Tom Draper became impractical and so a verdict of accidental death was returned. Category:Plot summaries